Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest, in 1939, many of the contestants have gone on to careers in television and film.
History Early history and beginnings (1927-1935) From 1927 to 1935, there were contests held in vein of the modern-day Miss Italia contest, with the winners often referred to as Miss Italy. This is mainly to choose Italy's representatives for both the International Pageant of Pulchritude (also known as "Miss Universe") and, later on, Miss Europe.
YearMiss ItalyInternational Pageant1927Maria Gallo1927 International Pageant of Pulchritude1928Livia Marracci1928 International Pageant of Pulchritude1929Derna GiovanniniMiss Europe 19291930Mafalda MorittinoMiss Europe 1930 and1930 International Beauty Contest1931Claudia BracettiMiss Europe 19311932Rosetta MontaliMiss Europe 1932 and1932 International Pageant of Pulchritude1933Ivana FuscoMiss Europe 19331934Tosca GiustiMiss Europe 1934 and1935 International Pageant of Pulchritude1935Vanna PanzarasaMiss Europe 1935
Miss Sorriso (1939-1941) The main forerunner of Miss Italia was Miss Sorriso (Miss Smile), started in 1939 by Dino Villani and sponsored by a brand of toothpaste. Contestants were judged by their photographs rather than competing on a runway.
Founding of the modern day contest (1946-present) After a break during World War II, the contest resumed in 1946 and adopted the present-day name of Miss Italia. It was held in Stresa, which had managed to maintain its hotel infrastructure despite the war. The venue then changed several times before it was established that Salsomaggiore Terme would be the permanent, annual host of the pageant.
Like contemporary Italian society itself, Miss Italia has gone through many changes over the years. In 1950, it was first broadcast on the radio. But since 1987, it has been broadcast live on television. As of 1990, the chest, waist, and hip measurements of the contestants are no longer judged, and in 1994, the contest was opened to married women and mothers (the 1987 winner had been disqualified when it was later discovered she was married). In 1996, Denny Méndez became the first Miss Italia woman of colour.
Among the participants finding later success in cinema and the entertainment industry at large (although many of them have not won the crown of Miss Italia itself) include: Caterina Balivo, Silvana Pampanini, Sophia Loren, Marcella Mariani, Lucia Bosè, Stefania Sandrelli, Mirca Viola, Simona Ventura, Patrizia Deitos, Anna Falchi and Martina Colombari.
From 1959 to 1988 the sole organizer of Miss Italia had been Enzo Mirigliani, to whose work the contest owes much of its current success. The jury groups that elect Miss Italia have included celebrities such as Totò, Giorgio de Chirico, Giovannino Guareschi, Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, Gina Lollobrigida, Alberto Lattuada, Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Lina Wertmüller, Dino Risi, Alberto Sordi, and Claudia Cardinale.
In 1989, Mirigliani and his daughter Patrizia Mirigliani started to organize the contest together until Enzo Mirigliani stepped down in May 2010 and died in 2011. After that Patrizia Mirigliani became the sole organizer of the contest.
Besides the title of "Miss Italia", during the pageant other consolation prizes are also awarded, including "Miss Elegance" and "Miss Cinema". In 1991 a separate pageant was instituted, called "Miss Italia nel Mondo", a competition for Italian women living abroad.
Miss Italia will no longer be held in Salsomaggiore Terme, for economic reasons. This was announced in April 2011, and a long list of cities have expressed interest in hosting the pageant. Cities include Sanremo, Rome, Fiuggi, Taormina, and many more. It was officially announced that Miss Italia 2011 will be held in Montecatini Terme. Milly Carlucci will not return as host of the pageant. Fabrizio Frizzi has replaced her for Miss Italia 2011. The pageant will only take place over two nights, rather than three. This year, the beauty pageant contest, back in a national broadcast television. The contest will be produced by Infront and RAI, The host will be Alessandro Greco. A program by Casimiro Lieto, Luca Parenti, and Alessandro Migliaccio. Directed by Francesco Ebner.
In 2021, for the first time in the history of the pageant, the final was held in Venice. The new format, created by Giorgio John Squarcia, removed sashes and numbers from the final, introduced three different types of "talent show"-style challenges, included contestants as unaware protagonists of social experiments filmed with hidden cameras, and, for the first time in history, allowed eliminated finalists to serve on the jury.
The final was originally scheduled for 19 December 2021, but due to two contestants testing positive for COVID-19, the decision to postpone the event to the following February was announced on 15 December. The winner of this edition was Neapolitan contestant Zeudi Di Palma.
In July 2023, in response to Miss Nederland being won by an openly transgender woman (Rikkie Kollé), Miss Italia instituted a blanket ban on trans women from competing. As a response, several trans men applied to enter the contest.
Miss Italia Crown Revolution The 2021 final night was preceded by Miss Italia - Crown Revolution, a five-episode miniseries filmed in docu-reality style, created by Giorgio John Squarcia and hosted by Alessandro Di Sarno. Set in Venice, the series focused on introducing the finalists and showcasing some of the challenges they had to face, guided by judge-coaches.
Directorship and Organizer History Dino Villani (1939-1959) Enzo Mirigliani (1959-1988) Enzo Mirigliani and Patrizia Mirigliani (1989-2009) Patrizia Mirigliani (2010-present)
Regional rankings Titles Region Winning years 12 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1993, 2000, 2015, 2020, 2022 11 1940, 1941, 1947, 1956, 1960, 1965, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1990, 2019 11 1954, 1966, 1976, 1977, 1988, 1995, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 6 1946, 1973, 1980, 1996, 2016, 2024 6 1957, 1964, 1989, 1992, 2002, 2007 5 1939, 1983, 2004, 2005, 2023 5 1955, 1968, 1997, 2009, 2011 5 1948, 1970, 1974, 1984, 1987 4 1959, 1986, 2001, 2021 4 1949, 1969, 1981, 2018 3 1958, 1991, 1998 2 2006, 2017 2 1962, 2010 2 1963, 1994 2 1961, 1975 1 2025 1 1999 1 1979 0 0
The winners of Miss Italia Miss Sorriso1939Isabella Verney1940Gianna Maranesi1941Adriana Serra1942No pageant1943No pageant1944No pageant1945No pageant Miss Italia1946Rossana Martini1947Lucia Bosè1948Fulvia Franco1949Mariella Gianpieri1950Anna Maria Bugliari1951Isabella Valdettaro1952Eloisa Cianni1953Marcella Mariani1954Eugenia Bonino1955Brunella Tocci1956Nives Zegna1957Beatrice Faccioli1958Paola Falchi1959Marisa Jossa1960Layla Rigazzi1961Franca Cattaneo1962Raffaella De Carolis1963Franca Dallolio1964Giorgio Bonino1965Alba Rigazzi1966Daniela Giordano1967Cristina Businari1968Graziella Chiappalone1969Anna Zamboni1970Alba Balestra1971Maria Pinnone1972Adonella Modestini1973Margareta Veroni1974Loredana Piazza1975Livia Jannoni1976Paola Bresciano1977Anna Kanakis1978Loren Cristina May1979Cinzia De Ponti1980Cinzia Lenzi1981Patrizia Nanetti1982Federica Moro1983Raffaella Baracchi1984Susanna Huckstep1985Eleonora Resta1986Roberta Capua1987Michela Rocco di TorrepadulaRocco was chosen as winner following the disqualification of the previously declared winner, Mirca Viola of Forlì. Viola was discovered to be married, and a mother, and the initial results of the pageant were overruled.1988Nadia Bengala1989Eleonora Benfatto1990Rosangela Bessi1991Martina Colombari1992Gloria Zanin1993Arianna David1994Alessandra Meloni1995Anna Valle1996Denny Mendez1997Claudia Trieste1998Gloria Bellicchi1999Manila Nazzaro2000Tania Zamparo2001Daniela Ferolla2002Eleonora Pedron2003Francesca Chillemi2004Cristina Chiabotto2005Edelfa Chiara Masciotta2006Claudia Andreatti2007Silvia Battisti2008Miriam Leone2009Maria Perrusi2010Francesca Testasecca2011Stefania Bivone2012Giusy Buscemi2013Giulia Arena2014Clarissa Marchese2015Alice Sabatini2016Rachele Risaliti2017Alice Rachele Arlanch2018Carlotta Maggiorana2019Carolina Stramare2020Martina Sambucini2021Zeudi Di Palma2022Lavinia Abate2023Francesca Bergesio2024Ofelia Passaponti2025Katia Buchicchio2026 Sarah Rizea
Hosts Corrado Mantoni: 1946–56 Nunzio Filogamo: 1952 Enzo Mirigliani: 1959, 1961–78 Renato Tagliani: 1960 Mike Bongiorno: 1970, 1975, 2007 Daniele Piombi: 1974 Gabriella Farinon: 1974 Pippo Baudo: 1976 Alberto Lupo: 1977 Vanna Brosio: 1979 Andrea Giordana: 1980–1981, 1984, 1987 Memo Remigi: 1982 Ettore Andenna: 1983 Michele Gammino: 1983 Milly Carlucci: 1983, 2009, 2010 Marco Columbro: 1986 Fabrizio Frizzi: 1988–2002, 2011, 2012 Carlo Conti: 2003–06, 2008 Loretta Goggi: 2007 Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice: 2010 Massimo Ghini: 2013 Cesare Bocci: 2013 Francesca Chillemi: 2013 Simona Ventura: 2014–2015 Francesco Facchinetti: 2016–18 Diletta Leotta: 2018 Alessandro Greco: 2019-2020 Alessandro Di Sarno: 2021 Elettra Lamborghini: 2021 Carolina Stramare: 2021 Salvo Sottile: 2022 Jo Squillo: 2023 Andrea Dianetti: 2024
See also Miss Universo Italia Miss Italia nel Mondo Miss World Italy Maggiorata
Maggiorata, //it.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maggiorata&oldid=152257754 (in data 30 agosto 2026).
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